Buy It For Life

Being both old and frugal, not to mention retired and having a general aversion to shopping, I like to go into a store (or these days buy online), get the product I need, and get out.  I want to buy items that last forever, and I don't want to mess with products that breakdown, require repairs, or otherwise are a hassle to own.  With that in mind, here is my "buy it for life" list of products that I happily own (FYI these are affiliate links...an easy way  to monetize this blog a bit without wallpapering it with ads):

• Gregory backpacks.  The fit is exceptional (for me, YMMV), and the packs are guaranteed for life.
• Osprey backpacks.  Ditto.  When I can't find a pack I want in the Gregory brand--and vice versa--I immediately head over to the Osprey rack.
• Craftsman tools.  I've owned Craftsman tools for decades.  I'm disappointed that the newer Craftsman tools that I have heard about are now made in China and apparently do not hold up as well, but they still have their lifetime guarantee so that is still a great reason to buy these tools.
• Darn Tough socks.  I love these things.  Again, these socks come with a lifetime guarantee but I have yet to wear out a pair and I've worn them for ages on some pretty tough trails.
• Lodge Cast Iron Pans.  Another product I use almost daily.  Cast iron pans are my favorite to cook with and while they don't specifically have a lifetime guarantee, they do offer to help you out if at any time you have a problem with their product (I'm guessing that if you, in some inconceivable way, break the pan they will replace it but if you leave it out in the rain to become rusty they won't but that is only a guess).  I've never worn out a cast iron pan and, in fact, I still have a cast iron skillet of my grandmother's from circa 1930s--it makes great fried chicken.
• Jansport backpacks.  I've used Jansport backpacks years ago, then all of the kids had Jansport backs all through school, and now, when I am sending stuff to the grandkids, they also get Jansport backpacks, mostly because I know how well they are made and also because they have a lifetime warranty (gotta get the kids trained to buy stuff for life too!).
• Timbuk2 Messenger Bag.  When I regularly commuted for work (via planes, trains, automobiles, ferries, subways, bicycles, tuk tuk and jeepnies) my go-to briefcase was a Timbuk2 bag.  They are practically bomb proof, waterproof, and have a lifetime guarantee.  Occasionally I will see a great sale on a Timbuk2 bag but then decide against buying it because I still have a couple in my gear closet that are in perfect shape even after years of use.
• SOG Knives.  Finally, SOG knives have a few warranties on their well-loved products.  The knives are warranted against material or workmanship defects for life, they offer free pocket clip replacement, free knife sharpening, and even some warranty on broken blades.

Happy New Year! Let's Talk About Staging Your Gear

One of my new year's resolutions (one of the few since I have pretty much given up on the efficacy of said resolutions but anyway...) is to blog daily here (a big improvement over the past couple months).  So off we go!

First, Happy New Year!  I hope this is the beginning of a prosperous, healthy, and interesting new year for you.

And now our first topic of the year...staging your stuff for ease of use and efficiency.

I headed out at daybreak for my morning run this morning (sadly, I have been slacking on this for the past couple of months as well) and thought about how easy it was for me to jump out of bed and be on the trail quickly and with a minimum of effort.  The reason for this is that my running gear, like everything else of importance, is already staged so all I need to do is go to my closet and, since everything is organized and easy to get to, gear up and be out the door in minutes.

This is a good lesson for all parts of your life.  If you are in your home office working on a project you don't want to have to stop and run around the house looking for the scissors, put everything on hold and run to the office store because you ran out of printer ink, or email a half dozen people to find someone's contact info because you wrote it on a scrap of paper and it is...somewhere.

The same is true for your camping equipment, bug out gear, travel stuff, etc.  If you keep all of your stuff organized in the same area, where it is easy to grab and go, you save yourself a lot of time and excess effort.  I no longer even have a bug out bag.  Instead, I just go to my closet (it's a big closet plus my daily wear clothes and shoes only take up about two linear feet of space leaving the rest of the closet for my sporting/survival gear), pick up a backpack, and fill it with whichever kits I need for the occasion (toiletry kit, international travel kit, office kit, backpacking food kit, wilderness survival kit, first aid kit, appropriate clothes and shoes, etc).  This entire process takes less than five minutes and I am ready to go anywhere from across the city to across the world.

Here's a few important reminders about staging your gear:

• Put things back where they belong (you want to be able to grab and go in the dark if necessary and you can't do this if you don't know where things are).
• Keep a list of what goes into each kit (this makes it easier to remember everything when you are repacking).
• Refine your lists and your gear continually.  When you get back from a trip, a hike, a run, etc. is the best time to determine what stuff works and what you want to get rid of and replace.
• Repack as soon as you get back from a trip.  Don't dump your stuff back into your closet when you get back from a hike and forget about it until next time.  Instead, as soon as you get back, don't put your stuff back into your closet until it has been cleaned, refilled, and repacked.  This way you will ready to pick up your stuff on a moment's notice and leave. 

10 (Cheap) Places to Acquire Your Survival Gear

Some of my favorite places to shop online...

1. REI Outlet
2. Steep and Cheap
3. Sierra Trading Post
4. Backcountry Outlet
5. Moosejaw
6. Amazon
7. Campmor
8. Minimus
9. Cheaper Than Dirt
10. Bargain Outfitters

Know Your Gear

I was browsing the EDC forums and it occurred to me that there appears to be gear aficionados who may have some excellent lists of gear to carry everyday or to put in their BOB but it also occurred to me that they may not know their gear very well.
Case in point: an everyday carry list that, if you added it up, would weigh about 30 pounds. I love gear about as much as the next person (or maybe more because I really am a gadget person) but I also know the gear that I need and I also know that I don't want to have a standing appointment with a chiropractor. Which means you really need to know the gear you are carrying.
For my everyday carry needs, I know that I don't want to carry much weight. Everything I bring with me on a daily basis needs to do triple duty, needs to be infinitely useful, and needs to be really small.
Some considerations:

• My basic pocket knife has a few bells and whistles (Phillips and flat screwdriver) but not 25 different blades. I don't need to carry a separate tool box with me every day because I can make the screwdrivers on my knife work for most (maybe not all) situations. I don't carry a razor blade because the knife blade will work well enough. I don't need a saw blade, adjustable wrench, or a multi-bit driver because if I need such a specialized tool, I will ask around and find one or go to the local Walmart and pick it up in a pinch as I would rather do this than carry extra weight.
• I carry a space blanket with me (weighs a couple of ounces) as opposed to a blanket for emergencies. If I find someone down in the street in shock, my space blanket would suffice or I could ask someone if they have a blanket in their home or car but I would rather cover them with leaves before I would haul a blanket around all day in the off chance that I would need it.
• Don't carry three of the same thing. On the list that I saw was medical tape, duct tape, and electrical tape. A short piece of duct tape will work in any situation where you would need any of the other tapes (although removing the duct tape from a patient you have taped up will probably leave a hairless patch on the fellow but that is less of a concern to me than the added weight of carrying a whole range of tapes).

For my BOB, I know that my gear needs to meet the above standards as much as possible and it needs to be tested regularly. Some considerations:

• While having a nice list of stuff to purchase to put in a BOB seems like a good idea, it doesn't mean anything if you end up carrying around a heavy bag of useless crap. I've done this before. I purchased the boots that "everyone" recommended only to find that if I wore them for more than an hour, my feet felt like hamburger. I've bought a nice tactical flashlight when, for my purposes, a headlamp would have worked much better (I'd rather be able to see hands-free than carry a heavy tactical flashlight in the off chance that I would need to use it as a weapon because, quite frankly, I would rather use a weapon in self defense at 10 yards than be 10 inches away from someone who means to do me harm).
• If you want to know how a piece of gear will function in all weather, in all terrain, in all seasons, there is no other way to find out then get out there and test it...in all weather, in all terrain, in all seasons. A friend raved about his ultra-light down sleeping bag until he weathered a multi-day northwest downpour--he said his bag felt like he was curling up with a wet cat after a couple of days of this weather. Yuck. You may have a great tent in your BOB but can you put it together...at night...in a downpour? Even if you do this, does it meet your needs? Ultralight bivy-sack type tents are not conducive to waiting out a storm. You may stay relatively dry but you won't be able to sit completely up (ie: you won't be the proverbial happy camper if you are left in a semi-prone position for a couple of days).
• Do you actually use the gear you think you need in your BOB? Go camping for a weekend, take it backpacking for a week or so. A lot of gear that is a good idea "just in case" is usually a lot of dead weight the other 99% of the time. People can be pretty creative when they need to be so consider what you can do without to save weight and what you could use "just in case" you really need an item. I would rather rely on creativity to replace some of the items that I would otherwise carry with me as a security blanket.
• Skip the niceties. If I am preparing for a disaster, I don't need to pack deodorant. I won't care if I smell. If I do care that I smell, I will go to Walmart and buy a stick. If it truly is a disaster but I really need a stick of deodorant, I would rather dig it out of a destroyed store than carry it over miles.
• Skip the redundancies. Yep, I like having an armory-worthy set of firearms. If I am holed up in my home or bug out location. I don't plan to carry a half dozen firearms and the associated ammo in a bug out situation if I am on foot. I would rather be lite and fleet of foot rather than armed to the teeth. If I need more than the one or two firearms that I am carrying, I will take them from my downed enemy.

The bottom line is that you can create the most praise-worthy list of bug out or everyday carry gear but if it weights too much, you won't want to carry it. If it fails during a disaster because it was never tested, you will kick yourself (right after kicking the offending piece of gear out of your way). You need to know your gear, and choose stuff that suits you, not everyone else.